The Uttar Pradesh (UP) Assembly closes
its term by May 2017. Elections to the Assembly are scheduled for
February and counting will take place in April 2017. As candidates get
ready to file their nominations with the Election Commission, we present
our analysis of the current composition of the Assembly (2012-2017) and
the participation of the members (MLAs).

What is the profile of current MLAs of the UP Assembly?

The
average age of MLAs in the Assembly is 55 years, with 62 percent being
between the age of 45 years and 65 years. Only 2 percent of the MLAs are
below the age of 35 years. While looking at the educational
qualifications of MLAs we find that over 70 percent have a graduate
degree. MLAs are associated with several professions; agriculture leads
the list with 76 percent of MLAs followed by 33 percent MLAs engaged in
business and 9 percent with law. Some of the other professions MLAs are
associated with are teaching, healthcare, journalism and social work.
(Note: Several MLAs declared more than one profession.)

How often did MLAs attend the proceedings of the UP Assembly?

The
UP Assembly met for a total of 126 days in its five-year tenure. We
have observed that on average MLAs attendance was 75 percent compared to
MPs Lok Sabha attendance of 81 percent. Interestingly, the average
attendance of the ruling party MLAs is higher than the opposition
parties, with the Samajwadi Party at 78 percent, Bharatiya Janata Party
at 73 percent, Indian National Congress at 71 percent and Bahujan Samaj
Party at 69 percent.

What role did MLAs play in holding the government accountable during the Assembly sessions?

MLAs
participate in the Assembly and hold the government accountable in
several ways; one key intervention is through Question Hour. During
Question Hour MLAs can elicit information from the government on matters
of public interest. Facts relating to the entire range of governmental
activities, and policies can be asked for, and Ministers are answerable
for their Ministry’s actions. During this period MLAs are to
participate in the proceedings as individual legislators, independent of
the political ideology of their parties.

On average each MLA asked 32 questions. While three MLAs
asked more than 500 questions each, 232 (around 58 percent) MLAs did not
ask a single question during the five-year tenure of the Assembly. This
proportion is significantly higher than that in Lok Sabha, where 10
percent of MPs have not asked a single question in the last two and half
years. Interestingly, MLAs with college degrees on average asked
70 percent more questions than MLAs without college degrees. Male MLAs
asked over thrice the number of questions as female MLAs.

Ruling
Party MLAs raised fewer questions during question hour. The average
number of questions asked by a Samajwadi Party MLA was around 4, while
an opposition party MLA asked around 70 questions. In Parliament, there
is little difference between the number of questions asked by ruling
party members and opposition party members.

Why is the role and participation of MLAs in the Assembly significant?

Given
the increased level of activity at the state level, there is a greater
responsibility for MLAs to discharge their role effectively. State
legislatures are responsible for making laws on key subjects like land,
police and health. In addition, there are certain subjects on which
Parliament and state legislatures can legislate concurrently. Recently,
significant legislative reforms in some concurrent areas such as land
acquisition, labour and taxation are being carried out at the state
level.

State legislatures not only make laws but monitor spending
and actions of the state government and hold it to account. Expenditure
of states is focused on providing essential services such as,
infrastructure like roads and schools, public safety, and subsidies.
During 2016-17, the UP government is estimated to spend a total of Rs
3,46,934 crore. The last few years have seen an increased devolution of
funds from the centre to the states, resulting in greater autonomy in
decision making at the state level. This reinforces the need for
effective scrutiny of government legislation and actions. Each MLA has a
crucial role in considering budgets, holding the government to account
and allocating public funds.

PRS Legislative has compiled the activity in the legislative assembly of each MLA, which is available on their website: www.prsindia.org. Citizens of the state may find this information useful as they consider the various candidates in the constituency.